Love A Child Seriously Sustainable Newsletter Spring 2018

Spring 2018

Sustainability Projects of Love A Child

Jadin Lakou Chemen La Vie: Introducing a New Family Garden Concept Even if a Haitian family has very little else, if they can have some kind of garden they feel as though they have hope for tomorrow. At the ATC, Wilner has developed a new basic family garden concept that we are now demonstrating called “jardin lakou chemen la vie.” This loosely translates to "a garden in your yard is the path to a good life.”

seen in these pictures show an entire setup for a Haitian family. Even if they do not have much space or good soil, we can demonstrate what can be done to provide the family with nutritious food. Here you see onions, spinach, parsley, leeks and even worms for making natural fertilizers.

Left: Giles and Wilner at the sign for the new garden demonstration area. Above: Now a large garden where none was possible before.

This achievable idea is basically just expanding upon the “tire gardens” we have been teaching about, but the new demonstration garden

Inside This Issue: Page 2: Announcing Poul Mirak Chicken Classes Page 3: Updates on the LAC Gardens & Orchard Page 4: Harvesting Support & Cultivating New Ideas

Sustainability Highlights

Through education, change happens. And, it’s happening all across Haiti thanks to your support to empower men and women on their educational journey towards sustainability.

Pierre Richard Ismael, Sajous Odne, Metellus Bickenson, Jemson Jean-Louis, Jocelyn Azeme, Forge Ludnie, and Yvrose Telfort Ismael. These seven students graduated from our 2nd offered ATC residential extension training program class on November 6, 2017.

In 2017, partners like Doris Turner, who sponsored three students to attend one of our 3-week ATC residential classes at our Love A

Child campus in Fond Parisien, Haiti, were able to help many Haitian families regain food security and self-reliance.

What you have helped us achieve: 48 graduates of the ATC 2year program 14 graduates of the 3-week residential ATC program 6 graduates of our new “Chicken School”!

To support our Sustainability Projects, go to www.loveachild.com.

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SERIOUSLY SUSTAINABLE

Lekol Poul Mirak: Love A Child’s First Chicken School When Poul Mirak began more than three years ago, one of its three objectives was to become a teaching center to help extend the knowledge and skill of raising chickens to others throughout Haiti.

Now, we have just completed the first session of “Lekol Poul Mirak” (chicken school) where six students from remote parts of Haiti came to Poul Mirak to learn the basics of raising chickens.

They learned how to manage anything from a small yard flock to even a small business. The six

From February 26 through March 3, 2018, these six students: Bender Delisnor, Emmanuel Valery, Kevenick Narisma, Laner Exavius, Loubrens Fombrun, and Stevenson Faricien engaged in a hands-on training on how to raise chickens.

students represented a variety of projects for their communities back home. They all learned about raising both “layers” for eggs and broilers for meat. The students stayed at our ATC bunkhouse where they had classroom work and fellowship as they lived together for the week.

experience as they worked alongside the Poul Mirak co-op members, who had put together the training curriculum. These students now have the knowledge and the confidence to have their own chicken operations to provide meat protein and maybe even some enterprise back home.

The students also gained practical

Abatwa Mirak: Expanding Services & Gaining Customers The Gwo Mache Mirak slaughterhouse (Labatwa) is getting more active each week and earning a solid reputation as one of the best places to buy premium meat products in Haiti. New customers are

Fast Fact: The Abatwa Mirak Meat & Fish Market officially opened in August 2015.

learning about the slaughterhouse and come to buy the processed goats, pigs and beef cattle which are now being processed there.

Sometimes a farmer sells their animal to the slaughterhouse, which then processes it and sells the choice cuts to many waiting customers. Sometimes the farmer simply pays a processing fee, keeping the meat himself, which he either uses or he has a waiting customer. The Abatwa is set up to handle the increasing business and earns a profit either way. This sustainability project is growing and helping to provide jobs and

skills training. Soon it will receive a great boost as new customers/ partners are coming to upgrade the facility to standards as high as any in the US. The group up-fitting the slaughterhouse will be there for 10 days to further equip the facility and to train more Haitians in the art of custom cutting for the best meat in Haiti. Look for a follow-up report in the next edition of our “Seriously Sustainable” newsletter.

To support our Sustainability Projects, go to www.loveachild.com.

Sustainability Projects of Love A Child

Page 3

It’s Harvest Time at the Love A Child Vergé Well, now it's harvest time in the Vergé for a Haitian favorite Pwa Congo! This fast-growing popular bean is prized by every Haitian. They look forward to the pwa congo harvest. Here you see Wilner and the staff happily picking the peas they have nurtured to maturity. Three large sacks of beans will make many happy meals.

You may recall reading about the recent new large garden and orchard to provide fruit and vegetables for the Love A Child Village kitchens. This garden and orchard area replaced the old Moringa forest – and is now called Vergé.

This new garden area is important to the Love A Child sustainable agriculture program because it is a larger scale orchard and garden which provides sustainable foods for the kitchens at Love A Child Village (where the orphanage, malnutrition clinic, and schools are). This Vergé is also where we have planted many of our important trees and crops which we want to be sure we always have a

Sos Pwa Congo Pwa congo (pigeon peas) being harvested.

stock of and seeds from. These “mother plants” help ensure our sustainability by providing the food and seeds for future planting.

A favored Haitian dish, this recipe calls for boiling pigeon peas (pwa congo) in water. Once boiled, the peas are then strained to remove the unwanted skin.

Finally, the strained pea liquid is poured over rice or eaten as a soup.

3 Top Benefits of Using Heavy Mulches We’ve rounded up the 3 top benefits of using heavy mulches, here: 1) The heavy mulches help preserve moisture in the soil, thereby reducing the amount of water the plants need.

2) This mulch also helps rainfall to be absorbed into the soil instead of quickly running off when a downpour happens.

ATC staff adding mulch to the demonstration gardens.

At the Agricultural Training Center, one of the sustainable methods we teach is the use of heavy mulches and composts. Recently the staff was adding more heavy mulches to the demonstration gardens, which now have green peppers growing in them.

3) Also, the mulch covering helps keep the soil temperatures cooler and helps to choke out weeds.

Mulch covering the ATC demo garden.

Whether dealing with your home garden, or learning about sustainable agricultural practices we pursue here in Haiti, mulch is an easy way to make gardening more productive and easier.

We’re all for that!

To support our Sustainability Projects, go to www.loveachild.com.

Fun Fact: Green Pepper =

Vèt Pwav

(in Haitian Creole)

Spring 2018

SERIOUSLY SUSTAINABLE

$ 5,000 towards improving the tilapia fish farm at Love A Child Listed here are several beneficial Village sustainability initiatives that Love $ 1,500 provides additional A Child has developed to lift beneficial tree varieties Haitians out of poverty. If you $ 725 sponsors a student to have a heart for sustainability, take attend our 3-week ATC program your time to prayerfully consider $ 250 provides a village with an how you want to help educate the “arborloo,” a community Haitian people. compost toilet $ 175 sponsors a student to Should you have questions, feel free to contact Assistant Executive attend our week-long “chicken school” Director Rad Hazelip by email at rad@lachaiti.org or by phone at $ 75 provides five Chapin drip 239-210-6107. irrigation kits to help a village $ 35 provides a solar lantern that You may give securely online at supplies light for 8-12 hours www.loveachild.com. We also $ 12 helps support a sustainable accept donations over the phone at Moringa powder business by 239-210-6107, or mail in your providing a month’s worth of check to Love A Child, Inc., P.O. Box 60063, Ft. Myers, FL 33906. powder to our malnutrition clinic

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Leading Haiti Forward: 5 Women of Sapaterre Start New Businesses

Mud cookies in production.

In the village of Sapaterre, Haiti, many women and children have to spend their days making “mud cookies” to sell. Out from the mud and poverty, generations of families spend their lives working to sell cookies made of nothing more than mud, oil, salt, and water. It is “food” for the poorest

of the poor. Traveling to this area, the Lord laid it upon our hearts to help these people, and it started with food. Then came opportunities to help women in the village earn income through small businesses. We began a sponsorship program for “Jobs for Mothers,” where a gift of just $300 could drastically change a family’s circumstance in the “Land of Bon Bon Tè.”

We are thrilled to share news that five women have made the transition from making and selling mud cookies, to selling clothing, fresh produce and other food items, a bread business, and a kitchenware and canned

goods business. Almena Phania, Adienne Joseph, Madamn Charles, Suze Ulissa, and Betina Joseph, are now able to sell products, support their families, and even set aside money to continue their businesses. They have their new lives because someone cared to sponsor them in a new business.

Madamn Charles was sponsored by Barbara Bradley.

THANK YOU for supporting Love A Child’s Sustainability Projects Love A Child is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), which requires the highest standards of accountability for non-profits. Love A Child has also earned the Independent Charities of America “Best in America” Seal of Excellence, as well as 4 stars from Charity Navigator indicating an “exceptional” classification.

YOU Make A Difference! Ways to Give Today: Online: www.loveachild.com | Phone: 239-210-6107 | Mail: P.O. Box 60063, Ft. Myers, FL 33906 SN18A

 2016 audited financials